Directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Belgium/France | 2023 | Fiction | 88 min | French w/subtitles
Film Source: Janus
Sponsored by: Eleanor Lanahan; Nat Winthrop; Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region
Showing us the human toll of an inhumane system, Tori and Lokita is another social-realist gem from the masters of the form, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Full of heart and indignant fury, the film follows 11-year-old Tori (Pablo Schils) and 16-year-old Lokita (Joely Mbundu), undocumented immigrants who have left Cameroon and Benin, respectively, for a new life in Belgium. But the undocumented life is brutal, and they are mercilessly exploited, harassed and threatened from all sides. Their saving grace is each other. The duo’s friendship is profound and deeply beautiful, a thing of value that somehow exists despite a corrupt, evil system that seeks to monetize their misery. Both leads are non-professional actors, and they are tremendous. The filmmakers’ worldview is famously bleak yet compassionate, and this harrowing, heartbreaking but oh-so-human film is one of their very best. ~SM